UNDR CTRL GUIDE
How to keep track of bills
Most missed bills are not about money. The date slipped, two due days blurred together, or a yearly charge came out of nowhere. Keeping track comes down to three things: one list with every bill on it, one due day for each, and a record of when each one was paid. Here is how to set that up, with a free sheet to start from.
Free bill tracker
One row per bill: what it is, the amount, the day it is due, the account it is paid from, and the date you paid it. Open the CSV in any spreadsheet app, or print the PDF and keep it by your desk.
1. Put every bill on one list
Go through the last two or three months of bank and card statements and write down every charge that comes back. Then add the ones a statement will not show yet:
- Housing: rent or mortgage, renters or home insurance, HOA dues.
- Utilities: power, gas, water, trash, internet, phone.
- Car: loan or lease, insurance, registration.
- Loans and cards: each minimum payment, with its own due day.
- Subscriptions and memberships, monthly and yearly.
- Yearly or twice-a-year bills, like a membership renewal or a property tax installment.
2. Give each bill one due day
Write the day of the month each bill is due, not just the month. When two bills share a week, note which account pays each one, so you can see whether that account has enough in it when both come out.
3. Mark each one paid
A list of due dates tells you what is coming. A paid-on date tells you what is done. Fill it in the day you pay, and the open rows are exactly what is left this month.
4. Check what is left after the bills
Once a week, add up what is still due before your next payday and take it away from what is in the account. That one number answers the question most people are really asking: can I spend this, or is it already spoken for?
5. Look at the list once a week
Pick a day, open the list, and look at the next two weeks. Ten minutes is enough. Yearly bills are the ones that catch people out, so look at those once a month too.
Doing it in UNDR CTRL
The sheet works on paper. UNDR CTRL does the same job and keeps it up to date for you:
- Every bill in one list, monthly, yearly or variable, with the account it is paid from.
- One tap marks a bill paid, so the open ones are what is left this month.
- What is left after the bills due, shown next to your checking balance.
- No bank login. Drop in the statement your bank already gives you and it finds the bills that repeat. How the import works.
- Due dates in your calendar on iPhone, Google Calendar or Outlook, and shared with your household if you like.
More free sheets: subscriptions, home upkeep, car service and a weekly reset.